Nonuniform transformation field analysis of materials with morphological anisotropy

The effective properties of metal matrix composites with particulate reinforcement are investigated using the nonuniform transformation field analysis (NTFA) developed by Michel and Suquet(2003). In particular the effect of the particle morphology on the effective mechanical response is examined in detail. For that, an existing periodic three-dimensional mesh generation technique for particulate composites is extended to allow for anisotropic morphologies. It is shown that the effects induced by the anisotropic particles can be captured by the NTFA. Additionally, the load partitioning between reinforcement and matrix material is investigated and a good agreement to full-field computations is attained with the NTFA.